Controversies that rocked the media

Fox News, a savvy player in the culture wars, recognized an opportunity and immediately offered Williams a $2 million contract. And Republicans picked up the ball and ran with it, calling NPR’s move political correctness run amok and bringing up Williams firing in their calls to strip NPR of its federal funding.

Williams recently signed a book deal with Crown Publisher to write about "free speech and the growing difficulty in America of speaking out on sensitive topics."

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The other batch of 2010’s media-related firings and resignations inspired less debate about what was “out of bounds” to say than about the journalistic methods used to disseminate the statements.

When off-the-record private e-mails from the Journolist Listserv surfaced showing Washington Post blogger David Weigel disparaging some conservative figures, it caused a dual uproar: One among the conservative media who saw, in Journolist, evidence of the left-wing media cabal they had always suspected existed, and another among journalists who objected to the breaking of ground rules that publishing the off-the-record e-mails entailed.

The first batch of e-mails that were leaked to Fishbowl DC, showing Weigel saying that Matt Drudge should “set himself on fire,” were not serious enough to cost him his job, Post editors said, but when another batch was leaked to The Daily Caller the next day, Weigel’s resignation was accepted.
Nearly every working journalist within reach of a keyboard weighed in, with some like The Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg arguing that Weigel had hurt the Post with his lack of professionalism, and others, like The New York Times’ Ross Douthat criticizing the “shame” of Fishbowl’s decision to publish the leak.
Weigel’s career was generally unhurt by the affair. MSNBC hired him as a contributor shortly afterward, and Slate hired him not long after that.

But it wasn’t only journalists who got caught in the media crossfire in 2010. There were two notable cases where the media helped get someone fired — one who probably should have known better and another who could rightly call herself a victim of a shoot-first, ask-questions-later media metabolism.

Gen. Stanley McChrystal

The power of the old-fashioned glossy magazine profile was on display a few weeks after Weigel’s departure when Gen. Stanley McChrystal was fired for comments he made in a Rolling Stone story by Michael Hastings.

In the piece, McCrystal repeatedly criticized the administration, saying that President Barack Obama had come in “unprepared” to a briefing meeting. His aides took shots at Vice President Joe Biden and then-National Security Adviser Jim Jones.

I am only too happy not to have to look on the face of Helen Thomas sitting in the briefing room ever again. The older she got, the more liberal she leaned. (Well, maybe the leaning was due to old age) But who employs an almost 90 year old?

As for the broad who loved the hezbollah giant, good riddance. Anyone who respects any part of hezbollah gets no respect from me.

My reaction to each one of these cases was "they did nothing wrong". Juan Williams was guilty of being honest. Same with Rick Sanchez and Helen Thomas. I always liked Juan Williams, and felt sorry for him, because he endured a lot of guff for being Fox News' "house n........r"

Rick Sanchez was sort of a lightweight Latino broadcaster, who I always thought got his gig BECAUSE he was Latino.

Helen Thomas is simply an old liberal crone. But even what she said was totally understandable. I am a strong supporter of Israel, and it would not bother me in the least if they bombed Damascus and killed 300,000 people. That is how strongly I feel about the right of Isrealis to defend themeselves.

HOWEVER, contradictory as it sounds, I ALSO understand Thomas feelings, as a woman of Arab descent, to resent the Jews who "stole Arab land"

Looking at it as a non-Jew, but somebody who admires Jews and respects their achievements in science, etc, I see that it is true that the Arabs were done wrong by the UN partition vote, which led to the creation of Israel. The UN at that time had very few "3rd world" type countries, which would probably have voted against the partition of Palestine. Basically a bunch of white goys got together and decided to make amends to the Jews by giving them somebody elses land.

But now that its done, its done, and the Israeli's have the right to defend themselves, period.

Poor Juan Williams. I would hate to be a somewhat conservative black man, a sort of "Bill Cosby take responsibity" African American. Those guys kind of have to keep quiet about their political leanings, I believe. Same with Latinos who are not in lockstep with the "illegal alien" lobby and La Raza reconquista types.

As an unapologetic white nationalist, I speak freely, no matter the consequences. Great feeling. No bowing down to political correctness or racial intimidation.

Freedom may not last much longer, but I'm gonna enjoy it while it lasts.

e-mails he wrote to a supposedly off-the-record Listserv surfaced, dragging thoughts he intended for a private audience

LIE...they were designed to be published and disseminated for PUBLIC consumption and to alter voter opinions. Journolisters still thrive at politico...if we lie often enough the public will buy it...you are a scourge on this country.

It's all about being politically correct. Gone are the days of speaking your mind and actually speaking the truth from your heart. Liberals never speak the truth for fear the American people will make them ill-relevant and conservatives keep their mouth shut because they are afraid of the backlash that will be unleashed upon them from the liberal media. So, the results are that the American people never actually know who or what they are voting for and we get Bozo's elected like Barack Obozo. Politics are just so screwed up, it's pathetic.

Juan Williams got the shaft, but Sanchez and that ugly anti-Semite Thomas deserve their reward. As for all three, just liberal hacks. Thomas and Sanchez personify what is wrong with the old media. Personal hatred has no place in reporting, and has grossly poluted the output of ABC,CBS, NBC, CNN, and NPR. Politico has worked hard to join their ranks, as well.

All Muslims be they American or foreign will always get the blame unfairly after September 11th. The American media will provide simple stereotypes and the public are very scared of them. That expalains why he was not to blame. But othersin the media who give fuel to the fire aren't so innocent.

All Muslims be they American or foreign will always get the blame unfairly after September 11th. The American media will provide simple stereotypes and the public are very scared of them. That expalains why he was not to blame. But othersin the media who give fuel to the fire aren't so innocent.

By their works are the judged. If they want to regain trust and credibility they'll have to kick up their heels and begin battling the bad guys in their lot with a fervor we've never yet seen. If the Muslims that are decent and law abiding decide to remain silent and inactive they will forever remain under suspicion and live on the fringes of American society. That is the way the world works.